A lawsuit has been filed against the Palmdale School District because a teacher allegedly made racist attacks, comments, and slurs directed towards Latino children.
The Parris Law Firm filed the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit this month on behalf of two middle school students who allege their eighth-grade social studies teacher subjected them to a campaign of racist harassment, including repeatedly calling them several racist slurs in front of their entire class.
The lawsuit is against Palmdale School District, SAGE Academy School, and the teacher.
“If there is any place our children need to feel safe and nurtured, it’s in our schools,” said attorney Alexander R. Wheeler of the Parris Law Firm. “It should go without saying that no student should ever be singled out or feel at risk in any way because of his or her race.”
According to the complaint, “While teaching, [the] defendant would refer to the plaintiffs as ‘wetbacks’ and ‘beaners,’ [and] would tell them that ‘Latinos and Hispanics do not belong in this country.’”
The lawsuit also accuses the teacher of assigning homework that specifically referenced anti-immigration policies; forcing students to underline these portions in the readings; telling the children’s entire class that “Latinos are criminals and live off of welfare” and claiming President Trump wanted to keep them [Latinos] out.
Once the Palmdale School District was notified, the administration placed the teacher on administrative leave twice in one school year, according to the complaint. The District transferred the teacher to another school within the district, without verifying this behavior had stopped, the complaint alleges.
“The District should have interceded immediately once they found out about the heinous nature of these slurs, but instead Palmdale School District refused to act and ignored the safety and mental health of these and other students,” said R. Rex Parris of the Parris Law Firm.
